For once, Squawker Jon and I are united in our baseball fandom this weekend. And we were both equally thrilled - and surprised - to see the Mets beat Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox last night.
It was soooo enjoyable to see Papelbon's dopey facial expressions after he gave up that homer to Omir Santos, both before and after that play was ruled to be a homer.
And how about Keith Hernandez saying on the air that Papelbon should go ride the pine after the pitcher ran out of the dugout to make a scene about griped a call in the bottom of the ninth! (NY Sports Dog has a clip of Papelbon's temper tantrum here. Classic!) What a drama king Papelbon is.
Between Papelbon making a fool of himself yesterday, and Kevin Youkilis making a fool of himself against Johan Santana in Friday's game, Mets fans got to see a little of what we Yankee fans have to deal with for 19 games a year. (No, I'm not buying that Youk was just joking when he griped after being hit by that pitch.) And Boston fans think Joba Chamberlain is over the top? Look at the drama kings on the Sox!
Arguably, yesterday's Mets win was more of a miracle than the Yankees' walkoff win vs. the Phillies. In my predictions for this weekend, I called the game a tossup. After a pitcher's duel that Mike Pelfrey was about to lose against Josh Beckett, to see the Mets' third-string catcher go deep against Papelbon was pretty amazing.
And, as Squawker Jon noted, the Mets' stellar defensive plays in the bottom of the ninth were pretty unexpected as well. Not to mention that the Mets won without their closer, Francisco Rodriguez, who was doubled over in pain with back spasms. The Yankees had an exciting walkoff win, to be sure, but even I can see that what the Mets did was even more stunning than the Yankees' victory.
Anyhow, it was a great day for New York baseball. And a rare day for Subway Squawkers, in that Jon and I were rooting for the same teams. Let's keep it up today!
What did you think of the Mets-Red Sox game? Leave us a comment!
Classic
ReplyDeleteOne of the best days for Mets/Yankees fans being overjoyed with each other ever.
great game, awesome finish, big D in the ninth. great to see papelbon smoked, then melt down. that smirk on beckett's face must be gone this morning as well.
ReplyDeletenot the first big hit by santos this season- i'll bet he's got a few more in him.
mike/m
lbi, nj
You can probably guess what I think of yesterday's game. Bleh!
ReplyDeleteI can handle the blown save - it happens - even to the best (see Fenway last month, bottom 9), but even as a Sox fan I don't really like Papelbon and yesterday certainly didn't help. Of course I want him to do well - he still's still part of the team - but this crowd won't have to worry about listening to me defend his tantrums.
So to put my own internal positive spin on it - 3 years ago the Sox swept the Mets at Fenway to complete their 12th consecutive victory. Didn't do them much good when the wheels came off later that season so I'm filing this one as "just one loss". Now, if the Sox miss the playoffs by one game - I'm sure this will be the one I point to!!! :)
So congrats NY on your fine day...cheers!
Red Sox lose two and move into first place. Yankees lose two and are still in third. I like that.
ReplyDeleteLisa, Lisa, Lisa,
ReplyDeleteYou trash the Sox but you had no kind words when they swept the Jays to help your team move closer to the top.
Sox are trash
ReplyDelete